Esarhaddon

Esarhaddon was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC and the third ruler of the Sargonid dynasty. A younger son of Sennacherib, he was named heir in 684 BC in place of an older brother. When two of his brothers murdered their father in 681 BC he had to win a six-week civil war before he was recognized as king at Nineveh. The coup left him suspicious of officials and male relatives for the rest of his reign, while royal women such as his mother and his daughter held more political influence than in any earlier period of Assyrian history. He conquered Egypt in 671 BC, which made his empire the largest the world had yet seen, rebuilt Babylon after his father had destroyed it, and arranged for his sons to succeed him in Assyria and Babylonia.